Hepatitis E Virus in Pork Production Chain in Czech Republic, Italy, and Spain, 2010

We evaluated the prevalence of hepatitis E virus (HEV) in the pork production chain in Czech Republic, Italy, and Spain during 2010. A total of 337 fecal, liver, and meat samples from animals at slaughterhouses were tested for HEV by real-time quantitative PCR. Overall, HEV was higher in Italy (53%)...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Ilaria Di Bartolo, Marta Diez-Valcarce, Petra Vasickova, Petr Kralik, Marta Hernandez, Giorgia Angeloni, Fabio Ostanello, Martijn Bouwknegt, David Rodríguez-Lázaro, Ivo Pavlik, Franco Maria Ruggeri
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2012-08-01
Series:Emerging Infectious Diseases
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Online Access:https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/18/8/11-1783_article
Description
Summary:We evaluated the prevalence of hepatitis E virus (HEV) in the pork production chain in Czech Republic, Italy, and Spain during 2010. A total of 337 fecal, liver, and meat samples from animals at slaughterhouses were tested for HEV by real-time quantitative PCR. Overall, HEV was higher in Italy (53%) and Spain (39%) than in Czech Republic (7.5%). HEV was detected most frequently in feces in Italy (41%) and Spain (39%) and in liver (5%) and meat (2.5%) in Czech Republic. Of 313 sausages sampled at processing and point of sale, HEV was detected only in Spain (6%). HEV sequencing confirmed only g3 HEV strains. Indicator virus (porcine adenovirus) was ubiquitous in fecal samples and absent in liver samples and was detected in 1 slaughterhouse meat sample. At point of sale, we found porcine adenovirus in sausages (1%–2%). The possible dissemination of HEV and other fecal viruses through pork production demands containment measures.
ISSN:1080-6040
1080-6059